FAITHFULLY Engelbert Humperdinck (Cleopatra Records) ****+
Cleopatra is a label that enjoys coloring outside the lines. Case in point, the new Engelbert Humperdinck record Faithfully. The album is mostly famous rock ballads, most if not all of which you know. ‘The Dinck’ has a guest list of famous musicians as long as your arm taking part and I was thoroughly delighted by how much I’m enjoying this.
Other than great musicianship and lush arrangements, the best thing about Faithfully is that the songs were chosen specifically to work well with the 90 year old crooner’s relaxed delivery, and he happens to be in fine voice. Other such collections by Pat Boone and Paul Anka tried turning rock songs into swing numbers and schmaltzy ballads- the results were steaming piles of cheese. In Humperdinck’s case the tunes were carefully curated with his voice in mind as he covers songs by Kiss, Extreme, Ozzy and Heart while acquitting himself nicely.
Faithfully features a surprising list of guest players; Jonathan Cain (Journey), Al Di Meola, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and Bob Daisley (Ozzy, Rainbow, Sabbath) to name a few. The arrangements on these numbers aren’t radically different from the originals; can you imagine how pissed off listeners would get if they were? The songs still feel familiar and EH was never a rock shouter, so that neo-Perry Como smoothness is a real plus here. The songs chosen are mostly ballads, but even his take on Kiss’s I Was Made For Loving You works and Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down has a certain je ne sais qua.
I remember hearing Humperdinck classics on the radio when I was a kid in the 60’s and 70’s like Release Me and After The Lovin’ and to my ears his voice seems virtually unchanged- that’s a pleasant surprise. As mentioned above it feels like these songs were chosen specifically to work well with his voice which is why Faithfully really does the job, even the up-tempo numbers from Kiss and Tom Petty. This disc is a delight; no guff.
HOT TRACKS: I Was Made For Loving You, I Won’t Back Down, Beth, Can’t Get It Out Of My Head
GIANTS John “Papa” Gros (Funky Krewe Records) ****
Ready for some Crescent City Funk? Giants from New Orleans funk master John “Papa” Gros (keyboard player, bandleader, songwriter) is a blast of Louisiana goodness. He’s performed alongside people like Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and Anders Osborne and he puts that to good use as he salutes his influences with a fistful of spirited covers. This thing got groove!
Giants is only 5 songs, but the shortest one if half a pube under 6 minutes. Here Gros focuses his considerable talent on the music that forged his musical identity on what is described as “a deeply personal tribute to Allen Touissaint, Dr. John, The Meters, Levon Helm and Billy Preston.” These aren’t just rote retellings of songs precious to him as he and his band reinterpret them with affection, reverence and soulful expression. Recorded live at Silent S Recording in New Orleans Gros and his guys don’t preserve the tunes as museum pieces so much as bring them vividly to life with a sense of groove and joy that can only be found in one city. His guys, by the way, include Alex Mallet on guitar, Matt Booth on bass, Russ Broussard on drums, plus a horn section that includes Ian Bowman (sax), Michael Christie (trumpet) and Terrence Taplin on trombone. What we hear and feel in these 37 minutes and change is exactly how it went down.
I think it’s fair to say that Giants is something close to a spiritual experience and that the feeling of this record insinuates its way into your bloodstream. The man definitely has a feel for and a firm grasp on this stuff. Allen Touissant, one of his heroes, says “with John, there’s a marvelous difference and it’s to the bone.” The performances from all concerned are relaxed as they ride the grooves all day long. The song lengths- 6:57 to 10:58- indicate that the guys were jamming, just following the music wherever it led them. There’s a real spiritual quality at work here, particularly as they dig into Ain’t No Use which closes out the album.
Joyful and smartly produced, Giant is a welcome addition to my music collection.
HOT TRACKS: Ain’t No Use, Hurricane, All That I’ve Got
BLUES NOW GA-20 WITH Charlie Musselwhite (New West Records) *****
What happens when you put a young trio together with a blues legend? Magic, that’s what; and a terrific Chicago-style blues record called Blues Now. GA-20 and Musselwhite shine with a chemistry that blends the spirit of blues pioneers with modern energy and it’s unforgettable.
Vibe was all-important as Musselwhite and the band recorded live and they did it quickly. They wanted that energy of playing together, and that includes the imperfections of the moment. Charlie notes with a gleam in his eye that “we’re so good we have to make mistakes on purpose! Everything went smoothly… making this album was as easy as falling off a log.”
Blues Now was produced by GA-20 guitarist Matthew Stubbs, and this guy knows his blues; he really captured something here. A couple of quotes from the press release are worth repeating here; Relix says “Blues Now pedals in the ambience of 1968 into the modern era” while Rock & Blues Muse says “hopefully Blues Now gets a volume two since the natural chemistry between Musselwhite and GA-20 has created one of the year’s finest, most powerful and unvarnished deep blues releases.” Sound-wise this feels very much like one of Bob Corritore’s sets, that greasy, lived-in blues feel that just takes you to another place.
One spin of Blues Now will have you thinking “these guys were meant to make music together”, at least that’s how I feel. GA-20 and Charlie Musselwhite switched easily between lead and support roles during the 6 days it took to record the album. After booking studio time in early 2025 they began gathering some of their favorite songs by Elmore James, Junior Wells, Eddie Taylor and more, and felt it important to include a number from Charlie’s 1968 debut Stand Back! In the number Cristo Redentor. “We tried to find songs that Charlie had a connection to or artists that he knew personally from Chicago, but also songs that we just liked and thought we could do justice to” Stubbs says.
Blues Now is a timeless record that reminds us the blues is a living, breathing art form. This is one of THE essential blues albums of 2026.
HOT TRACKS: Short Dressed Woman, Crazy Love, Big Stars Falling
CURE FOR THE MISERIES Mulebone (independent) *****
I’ve always maintained that time travel is possible with music, and I can see that Mulebone believes that too. Cure For The Miseries is their 6th album in a three decade career and it reaches into the past in a most satisfying way with their jaunty brand of acoustic blues and a pre-war spirit married to modern storytelling… it’s a beautiful thing.
“One aspect of what we do is trying to create original music that sounds indistinguishable from the first half of the 20th century” says guitarist/ singer/ multi-instrumentalist Hugh Pool. “He’s got this scholarly blues knowledge we can tap into” his co-conspirator John Ragusa says of Pool. “I think we can write song that can be identified with a specific period of time. Hugh can play more contemporary stuff whereas I’m coming from jazz and improvisational music.”
Cure For The Miseries really lives up to its title with a sprightly mix of tunes. Mulebone’s sound is described as “what Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (would be like) if they were a hill country blues band.” I like the high octane electric stuff like Stevie Ray and Kingfish, but there’s a special place in my heart for the kind of music I’m hearing on this record. John contributes “winds, brass, vocals and whatever else is in the junk drawer”, and the flute you hear throughout gives the songs an uncommon and occasionally eerie vibe. The musicianship is relatively simple but superbly well played and Hugh is right on when he says this stuff is ‘indistinguishable from the first half pf the 20th century’. That form is noticeable from the get-go but it’s when you put that together with the lyrical messages that a different picture emerges.
Cure For The Miseries is 11 tracks in all, including a couple of instrumentals that serve as palate cleansers. Blues, rootsy Americana, a callback to hill country blues traditions, call it what you will… this album feels like soulful perfection.
HOT TRACKS: Bad News Blues, Taking My Time, Cure For The Miseries
